Claiming a Neutral class should (and usually will) get you killed a lot of the time, and that is actually very healthy for the game. We can’t make Neutrals into these classes where when you claim them suddenly nobody targets you or even bothers executing you, making for a very stale experience and easy win.
Alpha build Alchemist could confirm himself with his day ability and as soon as he did, people just ignored him. Alchemists won almost every game they were in once they confirmed themselves. They often would outright claim Alch immediately and just blur somebody and then wait for their win. This is powerful, but not a fun experience.
Neutrals should never get to a point where they can easily confirm themselves but also not be a significant threat to BD.
If benign Neutrals to BD can confirm themselves, they need to have a drawback or risk associated with keeping them alive. You can’t have a Neutral be both benign and helpful to BD and be nonconvertible. The Alchemist and Merc are the most balanced classes in the game in my perspective. The Merc can be very helpful and useful to BD, but has the risk of being a fakeclaim. The Alchemist has the risk of killing BD and voting with scum, but cannot be converted. However, making the Alchemist convertable would be an over the top nerf.
Merc is the most balanced class in the game right now because of these delicate factors that make BD hesitate to kill them, but also implement that small amount of risk of conversion or having their contract be an evil player.
For a “benign” Neutral class to be fair, it can choose only two of the following items:
- Be unconvertable
- Largely helpful or useful to BD
- Easily confirmable
Merc: Has both items 1 and 2, but is mechanically difficult to prove and can be reliably fakeclaimed by scum. Balanced.
Alchemist: Has items 1 and 2, and ALMOST #3 since bleeds and poisons are so common. Alch is very strong.
Inquisitor: Has items 1, 2, and 3. The Inquisitor cannot mechanically confirm themselves, but the Inquisitor has the "Prince effect’ where it is one of those classes you don’t get a lot of fake CC’s from. If evils are desperate, they may consider CC’ing the Inquisitor, but this rarely happens in my experience. The Inquisitor can confirm easily in this manner. Overpowered (and honestly imo, boring) class.
Scorned: Evil neutral classes don’t apply as they don’t want to confirm their roles.
Fool: Evil neutral classes don’t apply as they don’t want to confirm their roles.
Pro-tip: Claim a BD class in the early game if you are Neutral. If it’s later in the game with 5-6 people left, claiming Neutral might be beneficial as neither faction has the time or resources to eliminate you. Depends on the situation, of course.
Neuts Out is harsh and necessary. Don’t expect free wins once you claim a Neutral class. Neutral classes inherently have some risk associated with them, so if other players decide to execute you based on their own risk tolerance, don’t get salty about it. Accept the consequences of claiming Neutral.
Edit: Updated the Mercenary and added the Inquisitor.
